Flood House back to HOME

My dear friend, Anissa Doten, is finally able to begin the process of returning her family home after the horrific flash floods of 2021 caused by the Museum Fire in 2019. Record-breaking storm events sent forceful rivers of water and debris into residential neighborhoods causing multiple floods that the temporary protections simply could not handle. The following link will take you to network news coverage that was filmed on-site, in Anissa's neighborhood, during the flood events two years ago. The story is quite compelling: https://youtu.be/kuMDjpQK5Lk?feature=shared

Anissa did not leave her home without a fight. Anyone who knows her wasn't surprised. Alongside her family, friends, and community volunteers, she spent countless backbreaking hours building and rebuilding sandbag walls as flood waters continued to come. The city helped by adding concrete barriers and countless sandbags. The neighborhood, for the past two years, has looked like a war zone.

The city is currently constructing a suite of more permanent projects to protect the entire neighborhood, utilizing resources from local, state, and federal agencies, along with voter-approved bond funding from a 2022 ballot measure. While these projects will provide long-term flood mitigation, risks to some private properties will continue to exist, especially those that are most vulnerable. As noted by the Flagstaff City Manager, Greg Clifton, “Even with the public mitigation measures being pursued, the engineer’s modeling reveals that some risk will remain over time as the burn scar recovers, and certain properties need additional private mitigations to minimize these risks”.

The hardships here could not be more serious. Anissa’s home, for the past two years, has been inaccessible to her family. The current sandbag wall stands approximately six feet tall, covering the entire front of the property blocking the driveway and the entrance to their home. The house frontage has been essentially barricaded. Anissa is a single parent of five children, one of whom has special needs and often requires disability access. Anissa and the kids moved out of her home following the floods two years ago and had been unable to return.

She has been working with the city and its flood mitigation team to discuss additional private measures to make the flood house a safe, accessible home once again. This will require her to have a wall built upon her property, the relocation of her driveway, and the closure of the existing garage. The city council has recently granted an easement to allow her and her neighbors access to their properties from the backside through a vacant city-owned parcel. The proposed new wall will run the entire length of both exposed sides of the property. it will be permanent and sustainable, allowing for the removal of the sandbags and barricades. A new driveway utilizing the city access easement will provide year-round ADA access for her family. Additionally, the garage -- a prior weak point that allowed flood water in -- will be walled off. This will eliminate the garage but make the house much less vulnerable to future possible floods.

We can use your support to help this wonderful family. One hundred percent of funds, time, and/or talent will go toward the project. Phase I of the project includes a driveway on the easement, a protective wall, and the enclosure of the garage. Once completed, Anissa and the kids can safely move back home. Donate through this GoFundMe or by reaching out with donations of your time and talents. Let’s turn the “flood house" back to a real HOME.

City of Flagstaff Museum Flood Information

News Coverage and Photos below:

news coverage